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She slid open the middle drawer and smiled seeing a photo of them in the center. Tears burnt behind her eyes, but she held them off as she went through the rest of the drawers. The bottom one was locked, and she went back to her key ring to find one to fit it. It slid open revealing several files inside that she withdrew wondering what they were and who they were about if Stefano felt it necessary to keep them locked.
The first two were things he’d found out about Demetrius and Nikolas and she put them aside opening the third one, the largest of them. The first page was written in Greek and she had no idea what it said other than a date from nearly seven years prior. Hailey turned to the next and stopped, finding a picture from her graduation.
She turned to the next sheet and found another photo from the summer after graduation, more pages of notes in Greek, photos from her freshman year of college and on through her semesters in Europe. She found several of herself with men she’d met in London and Paris, along with more pages of notes in Greek.
The longer she looked, the angrier she grew, her hands tightening into fists when she saw photos of her and Elliot but the accompanying email, this time in English made it explode.
Get rid of him, was the only words from Stefano to someone named Artemis and it was dated two days before Elliot left town.
He has been removed and Hailey is continuing to work for Carter. He has expressed inquiries as to when you will be taking over as he is anxious to leave this arrangement quickly.
I will be coming to town after her birthday, ensure no one gets near her before then, was Stefano’s last reply and her blood boiled.
He had been following her for years…why? What pleasure did he derive from being informed of what she did and who she saw?
A nagging voice gave her the answer, but she didn’t like it, but even more than that was the fact that he had lied directly to her face. When she inquired how he knew who Elliot was, he’d lied to her despite her request to not do that one simple thing.
Had he told her the truth about anything? Or had all of this simply been as he’d told Kyra…he’d staked his claim on her the night he found her in Demetrius’ bed and had spent the last seven years ensuring no one else got close enough to take what he wanted. He already knew she was here when he’d taken over, he already knew she wasn’t seeing anyone which meant he’d purposely set it up to bring Demetrius here to force her into an engagement. He simply wanted to win, take what she’d been about to offer Demetrius for himself and keep her as his own little pet. He’d never cared about her happiness.
The knowledge made her pain worse, and she shoved the file back into his drawer hurrying from the room as tears slid from her eyes. How could he do this to her? How could he be so cruel to take away her choice so entirely?
Hailey slipped behind the wheel and rested her forehead against it, forcing herself to calm down in order to drive. No matter how horrid Stefano had treated her, how much he had played with her, she still loved their children too much to risk their safety by driving upset.
“I love you my little rascals, never ever question that,” she said softly to them as she pulled out of the parking spot to head home. It was still something that Stefano had done to make her happy in their lies and it would be the only place that she could ever truly call home now. Her love burnt brightly there, and she would not deny her children their rightful spot within it.
∞ ∞ ∞
“The car is gone,” Karl informed the group who were frantically trying to call and find Hailey. “Stefano’s personal one…it is not in the garage.”
“Where would Hailey go at this time of the morning?” Elena asked as confusion rolled through her. “If something were wrong with the babies, she would wake us.”
“Perhaps she simply wanted to be alone for a bit,” Olympia suggested. “Her birthday is in a few days…Stefano was planning a wonderful evening for them and Hailey told me how happy it’d be since it would be the first with them married.”
“Oh, my goodness, I can’t believe I forgot,” Leann gasped. “We were so focused on the baby shower and now this…”
“Is there anywhere she might have gone that you can think of?” Elena asked Olympia gently.
“Perhaps the penthouse in the city?” she answered unsure of how to help further.
“I’ll call to see if anyone’s seen her,” Karl stated moving out of the room.
“We will find her. She would not do anything rash and risk her precious babies,” Theo said calmer than the others were, as Leann tried her phone again.
“It is still going to voicemail,” she sighed resting her head against Thomas’ shoulder.
“I think I’ll…” Elena broke off as a loud voice came from the front hallway and she looked at the others seeing surprise on their faces also, knowing it wasn’t coming from her imagination.
“Hailey!” the voice called again, and Elena dashed to her feet hurrying to the doorway clutching it tightly as the body moved towards the stairs.
“Stefano!” Elena gasped as Theo slid in behind her supporting her as she nearly fainted.
“Mother, where is Hailey?” Stefano asked looking at the pale faces. “I will explain everything but where is Hailey?”
“We don’t know,” Theo answered reaching out to grasp his arm. “Oh, my son…how is this possible?”
“What do you mean you don’t know where Hailey is?” Stefano asked as his heart raced with fear. “Mother, please sit down,” he added seeing her face still pale beneath her tan. “I have more news that will be upsetting.”
He guided her to the couch and knelt down in front of her, holding onto her hands as Karl came into the room.
